매천의 죽음과 문학적 성과

Abstract

Maecheon(梅泉) Hwang Hyeon(黃玹 1855~1910) won a fame as a poet during his lifetime, but his reputation was enhanced further through his patriotic death. Kim Taek‐yeong, the biographer of Hwang Hyeon, evaluated that Hwang Hyeon’s poetry became perfect by his death and his death was outstanding among many righteous people’s deaths because he was a poet. That is, poetry and constancy were accomplished perfectly in one body. Hwang Hyeon wrote 53 requiems(輓詩). For ordinary deaths, he used just ‘Man(挽)’ in the title. For particularly lamentable death, however, he used ‘Gok(哭)’ in order to emphasize the lamentation different from ceremonial sorrow. When he wrote a poem for mourning the death of a patriot, he used ‘Ae(哀).’With the conclusion of the 1905 Protectorate Treaty, many righteous people committed suicide out of shame at the national ruin, and Hwang Hyeon wrote ‘Palaesi(八哀詩)’ for lamenting over their death. Choi Ik‐hyeon and Lee Geon chang did not die at that time, but he included Choi Ik‐hyeon in the poem, expecting that he would kill himself in the near future. He also included Lee Geon‐chang, who had died long ago, believing that he would have taken his own life if he was alive at that time. His inclusion in ‘Oaesi(五哀詩)’ of Choi Ik hyeon who did not commit suicide yet and Lee Geon‐chang who had died long ago is a literary format, and it suggests that from that time he might begin to consider killing himself some day in the future. ‘Jeolmyeongsi(絶命詩),’ which he wrote during the process of suicide, is included at the last part of ‘Maecheonyarok.’ From a few days before the suicide, he stopped writing Maecheonyarok. His student Ko Yong‐ju(高墉柱) wrote a short biography including the statement “As Korea fell Sir Hwang Hyeon killed himself by taking poison,” and then added 4 pieces of ‘Jeolmyeongsi’ Although it was not the conclusion intended by him, Hwang Hyeon finished Maecheonyarok by plunging his body. As it means literally, ‘Jeolmyeongsi’ is ‘a declaration of death’ because it was written while the poet was taking his own life actively. It is also a literary achievement of Hwang Hyeon’s death that Maecheonyarok has become one of national must‐read books.